"A Man of Good Character"

Today is Martin Luther King Jr. day across America, and I'm sure there will be many speeches made in honor of Dr. King praising his efforts in the civil rights movement, and I'm sure they are all well deserved as the actions of Dr. King showed America a part of itself that for a very long time was kept in the shadows, racial prejudice. When I was a young married man I earned my living as a semi-truck trailer loader for a large company in Chicago. The work was hard, mostly hand stacking floor to ceiling heavy motors steel racking and industrial size air conditioners and heating units. I was usually working a six day week, and twelve to fourteen hour days. We had twenty-seven loaders on my shift, all types of men from all types of backgrounds. It was there I met Otis; Otis was a black man about my age and that was where the similarity ended. At first glance Otis could scare the spots off a leopard, he was about six-two and around 225lbs. he wore motor-cycle boots and a leather vest, with a small knit cap. His arms were like tree-trunks and his shoulders could fill a door way, he was an imposing figure to say the least. Many of the men shyed away from Otis because his appearance was so overwhelming. We moved all around the shipping docks over the course of a work day from one trailer to another, therefore we always were working next to different men at any given time. Eventually I came to a point where I was working next to Otis, not being shy by nature I began to converse with him, mostly work talk at first, then we talked about life and the world in general. Being a wise guy I joked around and I saw Otis laugh, laughing is a great equalizer and Otis became one of my best friends in the plant. Although Otis was not eloquent in a literary sense he was very intelligent and a good judge of a man's character. He was a great chess player, and we played many games on our lunch breaks. At that time having a friend of another race wasn't too common and I received more than a few glances during our lunch hour chess games. Otis eventually moved on to a new job and we lost touch and I think of him periodically. He was fun to be around and when he smiled he went from an imposing giant to a five year old caught swiping cookies. When Dr. King said someday we will be able to judge a man by the content of his character instead of the color of his skin, I think of Otis and how much this was true. We can't legislate attitude, we can't force good character upon anyone; we can only try to do what Jesus told us to do two thousand years ago, "Love one another". I believe that is the message Dr. King was trying to get across to people. You see you can't cheat people if you love them, you can't harm people if you love them, and by attempting to follow that philosophy we need very little legislation to do the right thing. I wish everyone could have the experience I had with my friend Otis, the world would be a much better place. Let's spend today by honoring Dr. King by trying to follow the precepts he learned by reading his Bible, following the words of Jesus, and loving one another.